Nanotechnology has been simultaneously heralded as the next technological evolution that will pave the way for the next societal evolution, and lambasted as merely the latest batch of snake oil peddled by the technically overzealous. Fundamentally both sides of the argument have a number of valid points to support their position. For example, it is absolutely clear that nanomaterials possess very unique and highly desirable properties in terms of their chemical, structural and electrical capabilities. However, it is also clear that, to date, there has been very little discussion of technology for manufacturing and integrating nanoscale materials into the macroscale world in a reasonable commercial fashion and/or how to assemble these nanomaterials into more complex systems for the more complex prospective applications, e.g., nanocomputers, nanoscale machines, electronic devices etc. A variety of early researchers have proposed a number of different ways to address the integration and assembly questions by waiving their hands and speaking of molecular self assembly, electromagnetic assembly techniques and the like. However, there has been either little published success or little published effort in these areas.
In certain cases, uses of nanomaterials have been proposed that exploit the unique and interesting properties of these materials more as a bulk material than as individual elements requiring individual assembly. For example, Duan et al., Nature 425:274-278 (September 2003), describes a nanowire based transistor for use in large area electronic substrates, e.g., for displays, antennas, etc., that employs a bulk processed, oriented semiconductor nanowire film or layer in place of a rigid semiconductor wafer. The result is an electronic substrate that performs on par with a single crystal wafer substrate, but that is manufacturable using conventional and less expensive processes that are used in the poorer performing amorphous semiconductor processes, and is more amenable to varied architectures, e.g., flexible and/or shaped materials. In accordance with this technology, the only new process requirement is the ability to provide a film of nanowires that are substantially oriented along a given axis. The technology for such orientation has already been described in detail in, e.g., International Publication Nos. WO 03/085700, WO 03/085701 and WO 2004/032191, as well as U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050066883 (the full disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein, in their entirety for all purposes) and is readily scalable to manufacturing processes.
In another exemplary case, bulk processed nanocrystals have been described for use as a flexible and efficient active layer for photoelectric devices. In particular, the ability to provide a quantum confined semiconductor crystal in a hole conducting matrix (to provide type-II bandgap offset), allows the production of a photoactive layer that can be exploited either as a photovoltaic device or photoelectric detector. When disposed in an active composite, these nanomaterials are simply processed using standard film coating processes that are available in the industry. See, e.g., U.S. Patent Publication No. 20040118448 incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
Regardless of the applications to which nanomaterials are to be put, there exists a need for the improved production, processing and integration of these materials into their ultimate application or device. In particular, one of the remaining challenges in the realization of functional nanostructures is to figure out ways to gain reliable control over their surface chemistry and to improve their dispersability in aqueous and non-aqueous media and the like to improve the handling and processability of these materials. The present invention meets these and a variety of other needs.